best. soup. ever. (according to the fam)
a week or so ago e. requested i make potato leek soup. had i ever made it before? i couldn't remember. it took a while and then i found a recipe and made it. they liked it, but they didn't love it.

"i thought it was something else, something you made before that i liked."

oh.

after some discussion i came to realize that what was requested was a chicken-leek-tarragon soup that i had made before. it was a soup i had winged, not from a recipe. i wasn't exactly sure of the measurements and such so i winged it again, keeping tabs of what i was using in the off chance it was the much loved and requested soup.

decision: best. soup. ever. here's the recipe:

chicken tarragon and leek soup (oh, and garlic, too)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 medium leeks, white parts only, cleaned and sliced thin crosswise
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into half inch cubes
• coarse salt and fresh-ground pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried tarragon
• 6 cups chicken broth (vegetable works as well)
• 3 small carrots diced small
• 1 cup green beans, frozen is fine but so is fresh
• 1 bulb (yes, a whole bulb) of garlic, peeled, run through a press

heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat
toss in the leeks and cover to sweat them, a couple of minutes until just soft
add the chicken and stir
season a bit with salt and pepper, not too much; add the tarragon and continue cooking for about 7 minutes (seven? why not 8, or 6?)
add the broth and carrots and increase heat to bring to a boil; if using fresh green beans add them now, otherwise wait... wait...
put the garlic into the soup and stir
once soup is boil turn down to simmer for about 10 minutes; drop the frozen green beans in a couple minutes before serving

that's it.
this served 4 people with NO LEFTOVERS, it's apparently that good.
even for kids

Labels: chicken, garlic, leek, soup, tarragon

  ¶ Monday, January 29, 2007